Max Sawyer was apparently involved in the early stages of the Supertrooper
program,
and raised Goose. Then he disappeared, and everyone
assumed that he had sold out the Supertrooper program. The Rangers receive
word that Max is seeking them out from Geezie
and they set
out to find Max. However, when they arrive, they find that his home is under attack. The Rangers make a
dash into the Sawyer house only to find Max dying and a woman, apparently
his wife, lying dead.

Max tells them
all that his last wish is for Shane
to look after his
young son, William Ester Sawyer.
Goose is given a mysterious horse-head medallion from Max just before Max dies.
Meanwhile, Doc manages to recover some data from a computer in the house just before
it self destructs.

Escaping the ambush, the Ranger are able to make it Ranger
1. Just as they load up the craft to leave, Goose spots William and takes off to save him from the
remaining bandits. One horse chase scene & rock wall fall later, Ranger 1 appears,
disperses the bandits, picks up Goose and Billy and off into space they go.

The story
unfolds a little more and we find that Goose hadn't
seen Max in years and had no idea he had had children of his own. Goose is
very reluctant to offer up any information on Max to Zach, who is
determined that Max was a fugitive*. Goose maintains his belief that
Max was running only to protect his family.

Goose gives the medallion to Billy, and it is soon discovered that
it helps unlock the data recovered by Doc earlier. Max appeared to
have been working on a bioengineered horse with wings
named
Sundancer for Brappo.
In a holographic post mortem, Max tells Billy that Sundancer is his
greatest achievement and is intended for Billy.

Still
unsure if Geezie did set them for a trap, Zach and the group head to
Tortuna City and offers up some friendly
interrogation. Geezie spills the details on the exchange with the horse.
Soon the Rangers find out that the horse was engineered to win the upcoming
Excelon racing tournament for Brappo. The contest offers some five
million in Starstones as a prize.

The Rangers head over to Brappo's to get the rest of the story.
Zach, still in garment grabbing wonder, gives Brappo three minutes to spill it
all. Brappo reels off a story about
Max Sawyer welching on deal, not providing the horse and therefore no money. The
Rangers decide that
Brappo had Max knocked off, but, unknown to Brappo, wasn't able to get rid of all the witnesses.

During the meeting with Brappo, William is kidnapped.
Brappo's only help is offering a token of wisdom.

"Tortuna City is no place for children"

With Geezie's
help, the kidnappers are tracked down to a local bar, and a good old
fashion shoot out takes place. Billy is rescued and the Rangers head
back outside to discuss Billy's future.

Finally, Zach decides that Billy will go back to BETA Mountain to live and
receive schooling. Unfortunately(?), Goose let Billy slip away in
order to track down Sundancer on his own. As Goose puts it:

----------------
Zach: Gooseman is a mystery onto himself
----------------

Doc to Bartender: Nice Place u got here

Interesting things:

Goose was 13 when Max was removed from the program.

Goose makes it clear that being a Ranger is something he takes very seriously.

Max was the closest thing to a father for Goose.

Project Sundancer was ordered this 35th day, 2087.

no calendar months??

This puts the Rangers in space immediately
following the arrival of Waldo
& Zozo.

Goose tells Billy that Max was trying to give
himself up to the rangers. Billy returns with "we was always
runnin'." Does Zach think Max was actually a fugitive, or just a
disgraced man who'd been fired? No mention at all of whether Max went to
prison.